Within the North Yorkshire Moors national park is Goathland often better known as Aidensfield for the Tv series Heartbeat fans or for the Railway Station – Hogsmeade for Harry Potter Fans. With it being used for iconic tv and film it’s understandable why Goathland is such a popular tourist spot.

My daughters have seen many episodes of Heartbeat so were quite excited as we drove in and they spotted the Aidensfield Arms as well as a flock of sheep grazing at the side of the road.

We parked up near the main green to take a little wander around the village, with it being so bitterly cold and myself recovering from a foot injury we knew the 20-minute time limit for parking in that area would be fine for us today. We have visited before and parked in the main car park to spend much longer exploring the village and surrounding areas.

There are several places to pop in and browse as well as a couple of cafes and a pub all along the green. Scripts garage and the 60’s police car make for great backdrops for photos of your trip. Then just around the corner, you have the Mallyan Spout Hotel too which is opposite the church that was used for many scenes in Heartbeat.

If you plan to visit in the summer months I’ve found out that on the weekend of 14th/15th June NYMR will be holding a 60’s weekend and Heartbeat Vehicle Rally also will take place the same weekend.

As we were leaving Goathland we decided to stop off at the train station and take a look around. It’s a beautiful idyllic station with steam trains running along this part of the North York’s Moor Railway. They have a website where you can watch a live webcam of the station for anyone who’s youngest loves trains it can be found here. My youngest Willow was most impressed with the coal fire in the ticket room and the milk cart sadly we didn’t time it well for seeing a train at the station but plan to take a journey along the 24-mile line aboard a steam train at a later date. Any fans of Harry Potter will love this place.

Back in the car we crossed back over the moors to Whitby at this point it started snowing, we headed for Whitby Abbey. My eldest has been learning all about the abbey at school so was eagerly telling us all about it as we got closer.

We parked up in the car park and I was pleasantly surprised to realise there are no parking charges in the council ran car parks until March 1st. We headed along a path to the 199 steps where we had some wonderful views of Whitby below us the girls took a little time to point out many buildings and boats. We then wandered down the steps to explore the narrow cobbled streets full of small independent shops.

Willow was desperate to go for a paddle despite the weather so we found a little side street that leads us down to the sea where she happily had a splash next to the ducks.

Sadly the rain/sleet got much more persistent and after finding a little sweet shop within a market we decided it would be best to head back up the steps to the warmth of the car. I don’t think I’ve seen my girls move so fast as we walked along the exposed path near the Abbey with the wind blasting us we all looked rather dishevelled by the time we got to the car and even my coat had soaked through.

We drove around to the West Cliff to take a quick look at The Whalebone Arch and The Captain Cook statue before heading home. We look forward to visiting again soon when the weather is much kinder but we still had fun exploring.

Have you visited? Which part was your favourite? Let me know in the comments. Also if you like my blog please click the follow button to get updates on new posts. I’m also on social media you can find all links on here to follow me.